Demystifying Evidence-Based Treatments

Evidence-based treatments are those that have been found to be effective through numerous, rigorous clinical trials.

Below are brief descriptions of some of the evidence-based treatments (and theoretical approaches) that I utilize in my practice. Please note: this is to help you get an idea of what therapy might look like and is for general information purposes only (and not an exhaustive list!). I develop a unique treatment plan for each client that is specifically tailored to your needs and may incorporate elements below and others not described here.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based theoretical approach that helps you better understand how your thoughts, emotions, and actions are all interconnected. CBT is very goal-oriented. We would work together to find the patterns that are keeping you stuck and help you develop new, more effective ways of coping. CBT has been found to be effective in treating a wide variety of mental health challenges.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT is an evidence-based theoretical approach that helps you develop a healthier relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions. The goal isn't to get rid of (or even to change) difficult thoughts and feelings, but to build flexibility and shift how you interact with these experiences so that they have less power over you and don’t prevent you from living the kind of life that you want.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT is an evidence-based theoretical approach driven by the idea that two seemingly opposing things can be true at once (the dialectic!), such as accepting yourself as you are while also working towards changing aspects that aren’t working for you. It is heavily skills-based to help you better manage strong emotions, tolerate distressing situations, improve relationships, and improve communication.

Inference-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (I-CBT): I-CBT is a relatively newer evidence-based treatment for OCD that helps you strengthen trust in yourself and your direct, present experiences instead of getting pulled into OCD's endless cycles of doubt and "what if" thinking. It helps you discover and identify the moments in which OCD confuses hypothetical “what if” scenarios with proven facts, leaving you to doubt your own experiences and what you already know to be true.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): Considered the "gold standard" for treating OCD, ERP helps you break free from the cycles of fear and compulsions (that actually only serve to feed OCD and make it stronger). In ERP, we would work on helping you gradually face your fears (at a collaborative and thoughtful pace!) and learning to tolerate uncertainty and discomfort without getting pulled into the rituals, avoidance, and reassurance-seeking that OCD wants you to engage in.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT): Backed by decades of research, PCIT helps parents and children build stronger relationships and navigate behavioral challenges together. Parents learn practical skills to create more positive interactions, increase cooperation, improve communication, and reduce family stress.

Prolonged Exposure (PE): PE is an evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that helps you gently and gradually face memories, situations, or experiences that you may have been avoiding due to a past traumatic experience. Through this gradual process, you learn that difficult memories and emotions don't have to keep their hold over you.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): CPT is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD and trauma that helps you understand how traumatic experiences have shaped the way you think about yourself, others, and the world. We would work on processing these experiences together and making sense of them in new ways in order to get you “unstuck” and able to move forward with more flexibility and hope.

Habit Reversal Training (HRT): HRT is a CBT-based approach that helps you build greater awareness of your body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), such as hair pulling and skin picking. In building your recognition of your own patterns and practicing alternative ways of responding, we can gradually reduce the frequency of these body-focused repetitive behaviors and help you feel more in control.

Comprehensive Behavioral Model (ComB): ComB is an evidence-based treatment built upon HRT that helps you identify why you engage in certain body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g., is it triggered by a particular emotion? physical sensation?). By understanding your specific reasons for engaging in these behaviors, we can work to reduce their frequency and replace them with healthier actions.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): Considered one of the "gold standard" treatments for PTSD/trauma for children and teens, TF-CBT helps families make more sense of difficult, traumatic experiences and supports them in learning healthy coping skills and building resilience.